Similar to the second hard drive option, one could purchase an external USB hard drive and use that as well. I'm using that setup on the notebook and it works very well. External drive houses the linux playground and the internal drive on the notebook contains the Win 7 installation. Since the notebook is able to boot to USB devices, I just made the external drive the first boot device. When it's plugged in, it goes to Linux. When it's not plugged in, it goes to Windows.

You will save the $100 spent for a used computer within the first few months after going "Vector-only." From then on, Vector "makes" money for you, in the sense that the money you would otherwise spend on Window's crap is in your pocket.

I should probably note that Grannygeek, nightflier and retired1af are much more experienced than I and therefore their suggestions much more wise. Nonetheless, if you like both money and computers, a stand-alone machine is best. Hands down.

For beginners, one of the safest and easiest ways to try Linux is "wubi": http://wubi-installer.org/It installs and uninstalls like a Windows program. No hard drive partitioning involved.You should have at least 20 GB of free space and a Gig of memory to go this route.

Exactly what I was going to mention. Try it out -- don't like it, you uninstall it just like any Windows program. In my opinion it's the easiest way for a Windows user to try Linux.

Correct. I give Ubuntu credit where credit is due. For windows users with only one machine, wubi seems the easiest and safest alternative.

Of course, I agree with Sledgehammer. Get a dedicated machine for experimentation. That is by far the best approach.

Or, if you're comfortable working with the hardware, just find an old hard drive, install it, and change the cables to it when you want to experiment -- back to other hard drive when you want to run Windows. That way the two never mix. I did this for a while with CentOS/XP -- but at the cost of computers now (I just bought a Pentium 4, 2.8Ghz, 512Meg Optiplex for my Dad for $56 + s/h) it really is easiest just to get another computer.

Or, if you're comfortable working with the hardware, just find an old hard drive, install it, and change the cables to it when you want to experiment -- back to other hard drive when you want to run Windows. That way the two never mix. I did this for a while with CentOS/XP -- but at the cost of computers now (I just bought a Pentium 4, 2.8Ghz, 512Meg Optiplex for my Dad for $56 + s/h) it really is easiest just to get another computer.

Looks like I came a little late to the party. I have seen Windows partitions messed up with a Linux install, so I "preach" a little more caution than some others may advise. I do like the "wubi" method for trying out Linux. I don't know how hard it would be to adopt something like that to VectorLinux and some of the other distributions, but as far as I can see, it's the safest, easiest way for Windows user to try Linux.